Lacrosse
This time last spring, a 15-3 Northwestern lacrosse team watched the NCAA tournament selection show wearing mix-matched sweats in the John C. Nicolet Center, unsure if the team would be invited to the tournament.
“Last year, I couldn’t eat, I was so nervous,” defender Courtney Koester said. “I wasn’t sure that we would get in.”
On Sunday night, Koester sipped a Jamba Juice drink as her team watched the selection show in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum.
The team, wearing matching Wildcats lacrosse T-shirts and black-and-pink “ALC Champions” trucker hats, learned that their 17-0 record earned them the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The team watched the selection show, broadcast live on College Sports Television, with their coaches and athletic director Mark Murphy. The Cats chatted before the show, but quieted down as lacrosse came on the screen.
NU’s first-ranked seed was announced first, and the team responded with cheers and claps. The Wildcats learned they will play Mount St. Mary’s (14-5) on Thursday in Evanston.
NU players then watched their coach, Kelly Amonte Hiller, on the television screen commenting on her team’s seeding and analyzing the tournaments’ other brackets on-air.
“We’re just really excited to be in the tournament,” Amonte Hiller said on-screen. “I feel like it’s anyone’s ballgame … Everyone has a clean slate now (in the tournament).”
After an anchor asked her about NU’s lack of national championships in any sport, Amonte Hiller pointed out other successful NU women’s programs, like tennis and softball.
The 16 other teams in the tournament were also announced on Sunday. Eight teams, including NU, earned automatic qualifying bids by winning their conference. The other eight teams pick up at-large tournament berths.
NU will play at home Thursday, and Sunday if the team advances. The Final Four will be held May 20-22 in Annapolis, Md.
Mount St. Mary’s reached the tournament by winning the Northeast Conference and then winning Friday’s NCAA Division I play-in game. The Mount finished the regular season unranked.
“Mount St. Mary’s has got some pretty serious scorers,” Amonte Hiller said. “They’re pretty aggressive and they’re quick.”
If the Cats beat Mount St. Mary’s they will take on the winner of Thursday’s Princeton-Maryland match-up.
Maryland, Amonte Hiller’s alma mater, has won 10 national titles , and Princeton finished the season ranked No. 5. and has the 8th seed in the tournament.
Maryland beat Princeton 13-12 in overtime on Wednesday.
NU has not faced either team since restarting the varsity program in 2001.
“We aren’t intimidated by those teams,” goalkeeper Ashley Gersuk said. “We’re so confident with what we have here, we know we can go out and beat everyone in the country.”
Following her on-air appearance, Amonte Hiller dismissed her team from the selection show viewing with a mini pep-talk.
“Okay, we’ll just take this one game at a time,” Amonte Hiller said. “You guys can be so proud of yourselves.”
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